Meet Kerry, our yoga holiday instructor in Kalamata, Greece

Kerry has been running yoga holidays for the past 13 years, so he has plenty of experience teaching the ancient practice as well as helping people relax and unwind.

Serendipity led Kerry to become a yoga teacher — when the scheduled teacher couldn’t make it to a retreat, he stepped in and his passion for instructing was born.

Now, years later, he’s running successful yoga holidays under the sun in Greece which combine walking and meditation with yoga to help you completely de-stress.

We had the chance to sit down with Kerry to chat about life in Greece, his own yoga journey, and of course, his fabulous yoga retreats and holidays.

Where did you find the inspiration to begin your yoga school?

I ran a restaurant for 20 years that placed a significant emphasis on vegetarian and organic food and overall health. I’ve also been practising yoga, meditation and tai chi for over 25 years and was a voluntary healer at Penny Brohn centre in Bristol.

This type of exercise kept me stress free despite my particularly stressful profession and I decided I needed to share this with others.

Where’s the best place you have practised yoga?

Truly!? My favourite place to practice is in my yoga studio. It has views over the sea in front of me and the mountains behind me.

Our garden is beautiful and it attracts lots of wild birds, so to practice with their beautiful song in the background is blissful. I’m very lucky!

What makes your holidays different to other yoga retreats?

I think it’s the intimacy of a small retreat centre. There are never more than 12 guests, so the care and attention we can give to each yoga student is very high.

Our yoga centre overlooks the sea and it only take 10-15 minutes to walk to our local, picturesque, fishing village and swim in the sea.

We have two beautiful dogs who absolutely adore having visitors to spoil them, and of course Ollie our Siamese-cross cat who soon works out who the cat lovers are!

When you come here you’re also entering our home and we hope that you will soon feel like a returning friend.

What can your guests do when they are not practising yoga?

Agios Nikolaos has a number of excellent (and very reasonable) tavernas and cafés nearby and there are a variety of beaches and swimming areas from sandy coves to pebbly ones.

Locally you can explore the area easily by foot or bike (there are literally dozens of amazing walks in the area) or you can hire sea kayaks and go sailing.

To be honest, most of our guests enjoy the beaches during the day and in the evenings head down to the harbourside for some authentic outdoor dining.

If you prefer to relax, you can also book a body treatment for that little something extra: shiatsu, swedish massage or energy healing.

What is your favourite walk in the area?

I have a top ten!

If I had to choose I would really recommend a walk that starts in the village of Kardamyli, climbing up to one of the mountain villages and then down through the Viros Gorge to the sea.

Of course we always finish with a swim and lunch by the beach under the olive trees!

How much yoga do guests do on one of your retreats?

There are 10 x 1 ½ hour classes plus some meditation sessions.

We give our guests one whole evening and one morning off so that they can maybe plan a day trip to a neighbouring village or just relax by the swimming pool or sea.

We always encourage our guests to really listen to how they are feeling and take time off if they want to rest… after all it is a holiday!

How did you go from yoga lover to yoga teacher?

Serendipity and fate I suppose!

12 years ago, I ended up having to teach a group of journalists at the centre because the yoga teacher who was supposed to be coming out had lost his passport.

Everyone really enjoyed the week so I decided that maybe I should enroll onto a yoga teacher training programme.

The big coincidence came the day after I arrived back in the UK, my yoga teacher who had retired had come out of retirement and was taking a group of six teacher trainees. There was one place left and so the next day I went to the meeting at her house and enrolled!

Do you have a favourite yoga pose?

Tree Pose (Vrksasana) because of it’s strong connection with the earth through the feet and it’s connection to ‘heaven’ through the hands.

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To experience a week with Kerry in Kalamata, check out his week-long yoga holiday.